Manufacture of sheathed and insulated electrical conductors



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. TATHAM.

MANUFACTURE OF SHBATHBD AND INSULATED ELECTRICAL OONDUGTORS. No. 327,971. 'Mtentad Oct. 6, 1885.

(N0 Muriel.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J TATHAM MANUFACTURE (JP SHEATHED AND INSULATED ELECTRICAL GONDUGTORS.

No.'327,971. Patented Oot. 6, 18 85.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES TATHAM, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MANUFACTURE OF SHEATHED AND INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 327,971, dated October 6, 1885.

Application filed June 17, 1885. Serial No. 168,955. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J AMES TATHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in the Manufacture of Sheathed and Insulated Electrical Conductors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of an improved process of covering insulated electrical conductors with lead or other ductile metal while the latter is in a heated state, without burning or impairing by the heat the insulatingcovering of the conductor.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional view of part of a lead-pipe press constructed for carrying out my improved process, and Fig. 2 an enlarged sectional View of part of the press.

The press is similar in general construction to that forming the subject of my application, No. 155,397, filedLFebruary 9, 1885, A representing part of the hydraulic cylinder; B, part of the plunger of the same; D, the lead reservoir carried thereby; F, the interposed hollow column with lateral passage a, and G part of the fixed ram bolted to the cap H, which is secured to the cylinder A by means of posts or pillars b.

Upon the hollow column F is supported the block J, having a central chamber, d, and opposite lateral passages, f f, and into a threaded opening in the bottom of the block is screwed the die M, the projecting portion of the latter being contained in a recess in the column F; orthe device M may be simply a die-holder for the reception of dies of different sizes.

There is a threaded opening in the top of the block J, and into this opening is screwed the hollow core N, the upper end of which fits snugly in a block, 9, in the lower end of the hollow ram G, said core having a detachable lower end, P, which is tapered externally and projects into that portion 0a of the die which determines the external diameter of the plpe.

Secured to the upper end of the core is a pipe, w, which terminates in a receptacle, 8, above the cap H of the press; or this pipe may, if desired, simply form a continuation of the hollow core.

Before starting the press the insulated wire is drawn down through the pipe w, through the hollow core N, and through the die, and carried out through the lateral opening a of the hollow column. The hollow core, pipe w, and reservoir 8 are then filled with oil or other liquid insulating material, and are kept full during the working of the press. Molten lead is deposited in the reservoir D, when the latter is depressed, and said reservoir is then raised so that the ram G acts upon the lead and forces the same around the lower end, P, of the hollow core and through the die, the lead pipe thus formed inclosing and carrying with it the insulated wire fed down through said hollow core. The insulated wire is surrounded by oil down to its point of exit from the end of the hollow core, and this oil serves to protect the insulating material on the wire from the destructive or deteriorating effects of the hot lead.

I am aware that insulating material has been fed through the hollow core of a leadpipe press for the purpose of insulating the wire as it passes into the pipe; but my invention is distinct from this in that the wire is in the first instance provided with a permanent insulating-covering, and the oil or other liquid insulating material is used simply to prevent the burning or impairing of the permanent insulating-covering of the wire by the heat of the lead.

More than one insulated wire may be fed through the core, or a number of wires may have a single insulatingcovering, which is protected by the oil in the same manner as that of a single wire.

I am aware that it has been proposed to protect an insulated wire by enveloping the same in water up to the point of application of the hot coating or sheathing material thereto; but this plan in not effective, for the reason that the presence of water or vapor in contact with the insulating material in the finished conductor materially impairs the insulating quality of the covering of the wirean objection which is entirely overcome by the use of oil or other liquid insulating material as the protecting medium.

I claim as my invention- The within-described mode of preventing the destruction or impairment of the insulat- In testimony whereof I have signed my name ing-covering of an electrical conductor While to this specification in the presence of two sub- IO the latter is being coated or sheathed by forcscribing Witnesses. ing hot lead or other ductile metal around the 5 same, said mode consisting in enveloping the insulated Wire in oil or other liquid insulating Witnesses: material up to the point of application of the WILLIAM F. DAVIS, hot metal thereto, as set forth. 7 HARRY SMITH.

JAMES TATHAM. 

